Israel Hayom: Generals accuse Netanyahu of delaying the ground invasion

Although experts don’t rule out that the talk about delaying the start of the Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip is a military deception, to recreate the missing element of surprise, a number of retired generals close to the army leadership pointed the finger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he retracted his decision to give the green light to the ground operation, and began to hesitate again about the feasibility of the invasion at this stage.

Israel Hayom newspaper, which is close to the Israeli government and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that there were disagreements between him and Defense Minister Yoav Galant regarding the date and form of the ground operation.

The Israeli media agreed that the political leadership, led by Netanyahu, is pulling the army back on this issue, in response to the demand of the US administration, President Joe Biden, and his advisors, who believe that the ground invasion will ignite a regional war and threaten the lives of Israeli and foreign prisoners held by the Hamas movement.

“A huge trap” retired Major General Itzhak Brik, known for his constant criticism of the leadership of the Israeli army, came out to support Netanyahu in this regard.

He considered the ground invasion a “huge trap” that would inflict huge losses and erupt a devastating regional war, for which Israel isn’t ready.

He considered those who supported the invasion “arrogant and conceited people who don’t understand in wars, they don’t know how to emerge victorious”.

Major General Itzhak Brik (75 years old) ended his military service with the rank of Major General in 1999, after 34 years of service.

In his last position, he was a member of the Army Chief of Staff, and a former head of the Complaints Committee in the Israeli Army.

After his discharge, he began researching the conditions of the army, and warned of many aspects of its defects, waste, and corruption; At first, he did it in closed rooms.

However, since 2011, when Netanyahu disagreed with the army over the issue of the attack on Iran, he began writing in right-wing newspapers, accusing the army leadership of abandoning the combat doctrine and failing to truly prepare the army for war.

The extreme right calls him the “Prophet of Wrath” because he predicted an attack by the Hamas movement on the Israeli towns surrounding the Gaza Strip, and today he predicts a similar attack by tens of thousands of Palestinian militants on the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Brik met with Netanyahu a few days ago, and personally warned him of the scheme to invade Gaza, and how it could turn into a disaster at a great cost.

Brik called for the immediate dismissal of the commander of the Southern Brigade in the Israeli army, and to prevent him from leading the army in battle, as well as the head of the Military Intelligence Division, because of their responsibility for the major failure that enabled the Hamas attack.

He said during a lengthy meeting with the editors of Channel 14 TV, which is affiliated with the right and supports Netanyahu, that they had received two warnings at least one day before the Hamas attack and exactly the night of the attack, that is, hours before the attack, that Hamas was preparing for war.

They didn’t issue a warning to the chief of staff, and the intelligence chief remained resting in Eilat.

Brik added, “We in the army are accustomed to getting up for morning training every dawn… Something of a show of force, but our soldiers slept and didn’t conduct this training… At least 70 soldiers from the Givati ​​Brigade were slaughtered while sleeping on beds in the camps… This is bad behavior and involves a severe violation that has cost many lives”.

Brik asked several critical questions, “How can a commander responsible for this failure lead the next war? How can his conscience bear this heavy burden? How can he fight while carrying this burden on his shoulders? If he could, how would the army accept keeping such a leader in his position with this burden?”

Liquidating Hamas is a major challenge, as Brik presented his theory about the ground invasion, saying, “Our decision to liquidate Hamas is a major challenge unprecedented in our history… There are two million people around them who are suffering and screaming against us, and their screaming should become against Hamas… There are about 40,000 armed men and their leadership inside the underground tunnels… They prepared well for the Israeli invasion, and prepared a huge number of explosive devices, mines, and ambushes”.

He added, “If the Israeli infantry forces enter, they will find surprises waiting for them to engage in circumstances that Hamas militants know better than us, and they will return to their positions and confront us again… There will be heavy losses among us… I’m not saying we give up on tackling tunnels, I want to address them; but this treatment takes time, not weeks, not a month or two; but many months”.

The retired major general continued his speech, saying, “That is why I say to the army, to the prime minister, and to everyone… Stop… You must not carry out this operation at the present time, and we must not be driven to it by love of revenge, hatred and revenge… We must act wisely, deliberately and with balance… Suffocate Hamas leaders in bunkers inside tunnels… Keep them trapped underground for months without medicine, water, or air, and they will tire… There should be no rush… They will have to hang their heads to breathe, exhausted, then we beat them and they surrender… The months we besiege them will exhaust them and weaken them, and then we will enter an invasion now will be a trap for us”.

West Bank When the general was asked whether the northern front was opened with Hezbollah?

He answered, “If we enter Gaza now, we will enter into a regional war, not just with Hezbollah, and not just in the north… A front will explode in the West Bank… Tens of thousands of armed Palestinians in the West Bank will attack Jewish settlements there, within Israel, there is a possibility of similar attacks by Israeli Arabs on neighboring Jewish towns, or at least they will go out in demonstrations”.

He continued, “We’re not militarily prepared for these two fronts, and Hezbollah, by the way, started the war in the north, and not alone; Rather, he has the Houthis in Yemen, the likes of Hezbollah in Iraq, and Iranian militias in Syria… They will fire thousands of missiles at our heads… Hundreds of buildings in Israel will be demolished… They will hit the electricity grid, desalination plants, and other infrastructure… Are we ready for this? No… Therefore, I say that invading Gaza now is a hasty step, as it is falling into a huge trap, and we will be caught in international pressure to force us to retreat before achieving the goal, So we have to prepare first, and then we fight this war strong”.